Saturday, March 3, 2007

IMI on Personalized Marketing from Pay By Touch

Foodtown, Shop 'n Save Test 'Personalized' Offers

Regional grocers Foodtown and Shop 'n Save are testing a new loyalty marketing system developed by San Francisco-based Pay By Touch.

Avenel, NJ-based grocery cooperative Foodtown is testing the program, dubbed "Personalized Savings," in three of its 56 stores, while Supervalu-owned Shop 'n Save is piloting the system in three Pittsburgh-area stores under a "Personalized Perks" moniker.

The Foodtown program tailors discounts and incentives to a shopper's own purchase history. Shoppers scan their loyalty cards at kiosks near store entrances to receive customized printouts of 16 offers for frequently purchased items -- eight from national brands and eight from the retailer. The deals are redeemed automatically at checkout when the shopper's card is scanned. The offers refresh weekly.

In addition to a summary of rewards, shoppers receive two or three coupons at checkout. Determined by the retailer, the coupons can be consistent with purchase history or may convey cross-promotions or other chain-driven campaigns.

Foodtown shoppers can also continue to accrue S&H Greenpoints from the landmark national rewards program. Pay By Touch acquired the S&H Greenpoints program from Sperry & Hutchinson Co. in December 2006. Foodtown stores, which are located in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, have been involved with that program since 2000. (See Related Articles on bottom of page.)

Shop 'n Save, which operates more than 70 stores in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, is testing a program identical to Foodtown's minus the Greenpoints component.

Designed to reward brand loyalty, the program doubles as an individualized savings initiative. For retailers, it also serves as a tool to track marketing performance.

The two programs are examples of Pay By Touch's new SmartShop loyalty program, which the company is now offering to chains nationally. Although Foodtown and Shop 'n Save are testing kiosk-based systems activated by standard frequent-shopper cards, Pay by Touch can enhance the program through the addition of biometric technology. The SmartShop concept first rolled out to Green Hills Markets in Syracuse, NY, which utilizes the biometrics option.

"SmartShop provides offers that are more relevant, based on what shoppers like and what they want to buy," says Shannon Riordan, vice president of marketing for Pay By Touch. "There are no cross-promotions. If you are a Pepsi drinker, you receive two-for-one offers or coupons for new Pepsi flavors."

The technology uses a shopper's fingerprint to access payment information, loyalty accounts and age verification. After entering a search code to begin the transaction, users scan their fingers on Pay By Touch readers at the register. Fingerprints also act as loyalty cards, processing savings and collecting purchase data, and systems at some retailers allow shoppers to cash checks and access health care and flexible spending accounts.

The payment system includes a reader adjacent to checkout scanners and a branded, lime-green kiosk near store entrances, where users establish and maintain their accounts.

Promotional activity includes regional enrollment incentives, such as a "Touch of Holiday Cheer" sweeps in Illinois that awarded 10 grand-prize winners with $10,000 in credit for groceries. Supported by headers atop kiosks, the promotion ran from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, 2006.